New from Usher

"What's different about this speaker?" was the question I posed the Usher rep when he told me that they had a new speaker, the Mini-X ($3500/pair), which supersedes the well-regarded Be-718.

His answer: "Better bass." OK, so let's hear the speakers with some bass-heavy material. They played the Swedish choral recording of "O Holy Night," which has an organ accompaniment. And the speakers sounded pretty impressive, and not just in the bass region. I was told that the drivers are the same as in the Be-718; only the cabinet has been changed. I spied a pair of Be-718s on the floor, but I was not offered a comparisonand, truthfully, would not have had time for itso I'll have to take their word that the Mini-X has better bass.